Gaelic football is french

mick.fr

Hey,

I have been told the Gaelic football is originaly french.
A guy told me Guillaume le Conquerant when he came to England in 1066 introduced a game called "LE SOULE".

Later this game was introduced in Ireland in the year 1308.
A part from the year 1308, I can not find anything else on the net proving it is actually coming from France.

Do you guys have some references ?

Flukey

All football games can trace themselves way back. I suppose they could all go back to the first cavemen kicking a few stones around. There were forms of football being played here in the Middle Ages, as were similar games across Europe. Many of those evolved in soccer, rugby and of course our own game. The earliest records of something that could be tied in to being very similar to our modern Gaelic Football was in about 1670. In subsequent centuries this further evolved. The famine and also the coming of soccer and rugby did have an impact on Gaelic Football. Of course the founding of the GAA in 1884 changed all that, and well, the rest you should know.

abakan

on thatt note - did ozzie rules come from gaelic football. brought from the covicts that where sent there?

marco_polo

abakan wrote:

on thatt note - did ozzie rules come from gaelic football. brought from the covicts that where sent there?

While this is often believed to be the case it is not true. The rules of ozzie football were codified the 1850's a full 30 years before the modern GAA was founded.

Given the strong similarities of both games many respects (bounce, handpass, no offsides) it seems quite possible that both codes have as a common ancestor anicient irish football games introduced by irish emmigrants, however as far as I know there has never been any evidence found to back up this theory.

Guy:Incognito

It's all a mix up, it was Gallic football..........


I'll get me coat.

Flukey

There are definitely strong ties between Gaelic and Aussie Rules Football. At one point, in the early stages of the GAA, the outer posts that are still used in Aussie Rules and the International Rules were a feature of Gaelic Football. I don't think there can be much doubt that Aussie Rules was born out of games coming from Ireland and beyond, in the same that other sports there are common to this part of the world.

OhNoYouDidn't

mick.fr wrote:

Hey,

I have been told the Gaelic football is originaly french.
A guy told me Guillaume le Conquerant when he came to England in 1066 introduced a game called "LE SOULE".

Later this game was introduced in Ireland in the year 1308.
A part from the year 1308, I can not find anything else on the net proving it is actually coming from France.

Do you guys have some references ?

my understanding is that hurling was the ancient game revived by the GAA in the 1880's to rival cricket while gaelic football was essentially made up by the GAA as a rival to rugby. there is no historical evidence of a kicking based game in irish culture.

Blackjack

OhNoYouDidn't wrote:

my understanding is that hurling was the ancient game revived by the GAA in the 1880's to rival cricket while gaelic football was essentially made up by the GAA as a rival to rugby. there is no historical evidence of a kicking based game in irish culture.

History of Hurling
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurling#History

History of Football
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaelic_Football#History

DUB

Hurling hadnt died out when the GAA came along, despite the british banning it several times it was still played in the traditional areas.

There are references to football from way back, this idea that Cusack just invented gaelic football is an myth. He laid down the rules alright. up until about the same time rugby and soccer in england varied across the country as well.

Flukey

Yes, the very idea that the two games began with the founding of the GAA in 1884, is ridiculous. The GAA is only the most recent chapter or two of the history of the games.

DUB

Mind you the growth of both sports under the management of the GAA is quite startling. Apparently Kerry was a rugby stronghold and Kileknny a cricket hotbed! I do think it's funny that some people seem to think Soccer and Rugby are new to Ireland and that they're on some sort of inevitable rise and the GAA is in decline as a result. When in fact the GAA is thriving at a local club level up and down the country.